Open floor plans and modern furnishings are all the rage of new construction nowadays.  However, these concepts may actually be increasing the risk of losing your home in house fire. 

An NBC news station out of Arizona partnered with the local fire department to demonstrate how open floor plans increase the rate of spread and make it harder for you (as a homeowner) to escape a house fire.  The firefighters explain that walls help prevent smoke from filling the whole house, giving you more time to get out. 

Check out the video to hear all about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8RfOnv71hE

Not only is the lack of walls an issue, new, lightweight construction also adds to the problem. 

An article featured on Fox Business discusses how modern construction is more dangerous when a fire ignites.  Peter Struble, practitioner in residence in the Fire Science Program at Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven and the fire chief in Wallingford, Connecticut, explains, "Now they're using what's called an engineered wood i-joist, which is much lighter weight and is not as substantial, and a lot of times it's thin pieces of wood glued together. It's extremely strong as long as it's not being attacked by fire. When it's attacked by fire, it fails abruptly." 

Struble goes on to say, "a test by the National Fire Institute of Safety showed that traditional wood took 19 minutes to burn, but new engineered wood i-joist burned in only 6 minutes."

Finally, today's furniture is not like furniture back in the day.  Old furniture was made of natural materials, burned more slowly, and did not release toxic chemicals.  In today's world, furniture is made of synthetic materials, including foam and plastics.  The Fox Business article explains, "One reenactment by Underwriters Laboratories built two homes and set a room full of legacy furniture from the '50s to '70s on fire along with a room with modern furniture. The legacy furniture reached flashover in 29.25 minutes; the room with modern furnishings took 3.25 minutes."

So now that you know about these fire hazards, what can you do? 

• Understand the risks and be sure you have a fire escape plan
• Install residential sprinkler systems in new construction
• Make sure you have enough smoke detectors throughout your home and they are working properly

References:

• Why a home's open floor plan is concerning to fire safety advocates. Firefighters warn about the dangers of open floor plans | wkyc.com
• Your open floor plan is deadly.  Your Open Floor Plan is Deadly | Fox Business